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Monthly Archives: March 2016

We stayed at the beautiful Paradores del Castillo and the place was so relaxing and the food so delicious that we didn’t want to leave. The staff was so accommodating and friendly and we felt at home. It was also filled with art made by local artists (on our first time to stay there last year, I got to talk to the artist of the painting in the wall in my journal below and it was an interesting experience). They had a common sala with a long table which was bright and airy so I felt very inspired to work on my travel journal. I used a midori insert, and I can say that I am now a midori believer!

The lower left page above is the view from when I read for a bit, and contains the painting I mentioned above. For a closer look at the pages, you may check out my instagram: @mabuhaydiy 🙂

For holy week, my family and I visited Taal, Batangas. It reminds me of Vigan because of the old houses. Look at the beautiful door knockers:

We ate at cafe G, walking distance from Taal Basilica (we were craving halo-halo) which had very beautiful interiors. Ambience: A++! I love the theme of the resto, which was love. 🙂

The service was warm and friendly, and prices are reasonable, but unfortunately, the food left a lot to be desired. We enjoyed the tuna salad and broccoli and cheese soup (which arrived after all the main dishes were finished). My pasta order arrived after everyone was already finished eating, (they apologized since they ran out of pasta but I wish they mentioned it earlier so I could have simply changed my order, no big deal) and my chicken and mushroom alfredo did not have any mushrooms at all. 😦 It tasted like canned cream of mushroom soup but I was expecting even some mushroom bits. The canned cream of mushroom soup base also made it taste too salty, sadly. I could not finish my order because of it. My mom’s order was rosemary chicken which was too dry to be eaten and when she complained to the server they served her a better-cooked chicken, which was really nice of them. Props to them for that.
The halo-halo looked gorgeous:

It tasted just okay, a bit too sweet for my taste. It had nata de coco, macapuno, red kaong, ube halaya, whipped cream and a cherry and a thin crispy waffle on top. The other tables seemed to enjoy their cold drinks which was perfect for the hot summer weather. I really hope they improve on these shortcomings and I’m willing to give them another chance, maybe for merienda. 🙂

I love the mural outside Tampuhan Cafe. We weren’t able to eat there but hopefully next time. 🙂

My aunt gave me these two brushes as gifts and I finally got a chance to try them out! She got them from Blick Art supplies L.a.

Top: Winsor and Newton Cotman round number 8

Bottom: White Sable Robert Simmons round number 10

I tried various brush strokes and I now understand why they call the Robert Simmons brush as White Sable–the hair is synthetic but it behaves just like real sable, but springier, which I like in a brush. If you look at the photo above, the tip of the Robert Simmons brush is more pointed when wet. The flex is also easier to control. The W&N cotman is also soft and flexible but compared to the white sable brush, I find it harder to control, as you can see in the sample strokes below. I had to stop in the middle of a stroke because the bristles kept going in every direction. This might be effective for larger pieces but I still prefer the robert simmons brush. The tip of the robert simmons brush is more pointy even if it’s number 10, as opposed to the w&n number 8.
At the bottom of page I tried using the brush as horizontally as I can to the page and didn’t see/feel much of a difference. The left is the robert simmons brush and the right one is the winsor and newton.

I enjoyed the robert simmons brush so much I made a quick watercolor painting with it:

This has been a beautiful, art-filled month! I was able to visit Yuchengco museum for the trade fair for women’s month and we were lucky enough to access the museum that day for free!

I’ve been so inspired by frannerd’s ‘Draw Outside’ series, so I tried drawing a fave Amorsolo painting too:

Here are my other favorite artworks. To know who made each, check out my instagram: @mabuhaydiy 🙂

My greatest purchase involves this midori traveler’s notebook insert. Still saving up for the cover, but for now, this works well for me. I personalized it with washi tape and a unicorn sticker:

I love the page size, which is challenging but also manageable for making art, and how I can use both sides of the paper, how it’s sturdy enough. My eyes are happy with seeing all the beautiful inspiring pages using the hashtag #travelersnotebook in instagram.

Here are some pages I made:

My passion for stickers have been rekindled by this journal obsession. I’ve been making these handpainted stickers for a long time but seeing planner layouts made me interested again in making various ones. I made summery neon ones:

Since I was a kid, I have always been in love with notebooks and paper in general. I had several of them which I used at the same time, one for my stories, a diary with a lock, a planner filled with Daria cutouts and Sylvia Plath poems (I had a Plath phase), and several unfinished notebooks I attempted to turn to my art journals. Mostly filled with charcoal portraits of the spice girls and the sweet valley twins heh.

I still love paper and notebooks and planners, and have various notebooks and planners in rotation. Here’s a peek inside my planners, a starbucks moleskine and a midori tn insert

Been spending most of my free time watching movies and reading but I don’t wanna neglect my other loves so just a few minutes ago I made some tita stamps. Featuring my fave tita treasures: milk tea, hot tea, and a slice of cake, specifically brazo de mercedes from goldilocks. 🙂

These watercolor paintings below are inspired by tutorials from Sikander Singh. That camper planner is up for grabs in my instagram, btw! Check out my instagram (@mabuhaydiy) for the mechanics.

I posted this is our wall at home so I can be reminded that being a scanner and loving many many hobbies is quite alright lol.

Mabuhay!

Hi! I'm Drea Dela Cruz, an artist/crafter from Manila, Philippines.

I love trying new things related to arts and crafts and experimenting with various materials.

I started this blog because I wanted to share my love for the DIY movement--I believe everyone has that artistic side that makes them unique and special and I support encouraging fellow makers. Keep on making things!

Aside from arts and crafts, I also enjoy reading books and magazines, playing with stray cats, traveling, and eating. I'd love to share my artsy-craftsy adventures and journey with you here!

If you wanna get in touch with me, kindly email: mabuhaydiy@gmail.com.